Conversations With History: How the Law Is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful

December 14, 2011

Glenn Greenwald analyzes the relationship between principle, power, and law, and describes the erosion of justice in the United States.

Recognizing the nerd in all of us, Guernica brings you Conversations with History, a video series of interviews with distinguished intellectuals conducted by creator and executive producer Harry Kreisler and produced by the Institute of International Studies at the University of California at Berkeley.

In this week’s episode, Kreisler welcomes author/blogger Glenn Greenwald for a discussion of his new book, With Liberty and Justice for Some. Highlighting the degree to which the legal system frees the powerful from accountability while harshly treating the powerless, Greenwald describes the origins of the current system, its repudiation of American ideals, and the mechanisms that sustain it. He then analyzes the media’s abdication of its role as watchdog. He concludes with a survey of the the record of the Obama administration in fulfilling its mandate, argues for an alternative politics, and offers advice for students as they prepare for the future.

Harry Kreisler is also the Executive Director of the Institute of International Studies at the University of California at Berkeley. In that role, he shapes, administers, and implements interdisciplinary academic and public affairs programs that analyze global issues.

Full Metal Racket: Reporter Michael Hastings on his blockbuster articles, how the generals pushed Obama into a war he didn’t want to fight, and the Pentagon’s effort to tear down the wall between PR and propaganda. More